I think the fps is based on processor as it never changes for me (im using an atix800xl) if i have my setting set at lowest i get 20fps and at highest i get 20fps?

As with everything you do on a computer, the frame rate is limited by the weakest part of your machine.

I didn't know you could do this until last night, so I'm going to share some info with everyone. When you're in a MP game, you can hit the 'p' key to display/hide the ping and frame rate of all the players in the match, and it updates as you play, so you can see who's slowing things down when the number of ships in the game gets larger. Very uselfull for finding people who have graphics set too high for MP on their machine, or finding out if it's you who's to blame... When you start looking at these numbers, you'll see that the numbers shown before you start a game are not always the same as the numbers you see once the game begins.

Gary Swift (aka gswift)
Lenexa, Kansas USA

You can try to monkey-proof your program, but you'll never monkey-proof the monkey.

What ive found is that you get those games where everything starts but Its all in slow motion. It takes a minute for a fighter just to turn around and reach the first asteroid. Its not the High pingers fault but actually the low fps guy. There was one guy on 6 fps. There is a misconception out there that slow down is caused by high ping when infact its caused by the low fps of a player making it play low for everyone.

Exactly. For example, I have the cheapest cable connection speed available here, so my ping is kinda high for cable. However, my machine is good and I turn the graphics all the way down for MP, so my games always run nice and fast. You're definitely right about the ping vrs frame rate. There's not really any reason people should have graphics turned up for MP, unless they really like a slowed-down version of the game...

Gary Swift (aka gswift)
Lenexa, Kansas USA

You can try to monkey-proof your program, but you'll never monkey-proof the monkey.